Nov 9, 2017 - Economy

Senate Dem wants tech firms to notify users exposed to Russian propaganda

Kim Hart

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), next to a poster of an online ad designed to suppress Clinton's vote (AP's Andrew Harnik)

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal today asked Twitter, Google and Facebook to inform all of their users who were exposed to ads and content purchased or placed by Russian actors during the 2016 election.

"You owe your users full information regarding when, where, and how they may have been unwitting participants in Russia's campaign to sow division and spread disinformation in the United States," Blumenthal wrote in letters to the companies' CEOs.

Context: The companies took a lot of heat on Capitol Hill last week for allowing Russian content with malicious intent to spread on their platforms and are under pressure to add new safeguards. Several lawmakers called on the companies to release more information about the ads and stories that appeared on their platforms so citizens have a better idea of what it looks like. Some ads have been released.

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Senate Dem wants tech firms to notify users exposed to Russian propaganda

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